Ventura County DA disappointed in governor's choice to reduce sentence in Camarillo murder

Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten this week expressed “disappointment” over Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision to commute the life-without-parole prison sentence for a man convicted of a 1986 murder and armed robbery.

Totten reacted to the governor’s commutation in a news release issued Monday.

In August, Totten wrote to an investigator for the state Board of Parole Hearings and opposed Todd Hess’ Feb. 21 application for a commutation of his sentence. The application was granted Nov. 21 and means Hess’ sentence was reduced to 32 years to life in prison.

Brown’s decision also means Hess will have “an opportunity to make his case” before the parole board so it can determine whether he is suitable for parole, the governor said in a statement.

For the Camarillo crime, Hess, now 53, was sentenced in November 1987, so he has served the past 32 years in prison. A parole hearing is scheduled for May 7, the prosecutor’s office said.

In the three-page letter, Totten wrote about Hess’ application and the lack of remorse he appears to have over the killing of Scott James, the 30-year-old store clerk from Ojai Hess gunned down on June 29, 1986.

“He claims the victim ‘got shot’ without taking responsibility for the fact that he shot ... James, who was not resisting the robbery, in the back,” Totten wrote. “That Hess has no meaningful understanding of the crime he committed speaks loudly to the fact he had not truly changed.”

Totten referenced Hess’ application in which the inmate describes the crime to rob the USA gas station because he and his partner in the crime ran out of gas.

“The clerk attempted to take the gun away from us and got shot and died,” Hess wrote.

Hess, who was 20 when he committed the crime, wrote that he has grown as a person, learned from his mistakes and has not been disciplined in prison for a “number of years.”

Over the years, he has taken his case to the 2nd District Court of Appeal multiple times but has been denied, court records show.

While incarcerated, Hess has earned his high school equivalency diploma, taken college classes, learned a number of skills and worked a variety of jobs, the inmate shared in the application.

Some of those work placements came with raving reviews, Brown wrote in his statement. Supervisors praised him for his work ethic and willingness to take on more responsibility, with one calling him a positive influence.

“In light of Mr. Hess’ transformation in prison and his commitment to rehabilitation, I believe he deserves an opportunity to make his case before the Board of Parole Hearings so that it can determine whether he is suitable for parole,” Brown wrote.

Meanwhile, Totten and James’ mother and cousin urged the governor to deny Hess’ request. James, a Navy veteran, was working a second job at the Camarillo USA gas station on Central Avenue in 1986 to earn money for college.

Totten found Hess’ description of the crime in his application “most striking.”

After the crime, Hess made incriminating statements to several people, including a fellow inmate, but did not claim James tried to take the gun away. Forensic evidence shows Hess shot James at close range in the back of the head just above the neck, Totten wrote.

Additionally, Hess’ conduct while in jail should be a factor, Totten said. When Hess found out that his partner in the crime, the same man who turned the pair in to authorities, was planning to testify against him, he tried to arrange for the man’s murder, Totten wrote.

Hess falsely told another inmate that a security guard had witnessed the crime. The plan was to use a stolen credit card scheme to pay for the killing of his partner and the security guard, Totten wrote.

Hess expressed a lack of remorse after his conviction, telling a probation officer preparing his sentencing report that the murder “never happened“ and he decided not to let it bother him, Totten wrote.

“Unremorseful even at sentencing, Hess arrogantly predicted he would not serve his life sentence. He believed changes in the law or successful appeals would ensure his release within 20 years,” Totten wrote.